Monday, March 26 South Bend, IN
This morning we board our deluxe air-conditioned motor coach as we begin our travels through Wisconsin and northern Illinois. We’ll stop for lunch and have rest stops en route. We will be passing through Chicago as we continue to our evening stay at the Hampton Inn at South Bend, Indiana.
Tuesday, March 27 Somerset, PA
After breakfast, we will be traveling east through the Great Lakes states of Indiana and Ohio and then into Pennsylvania. We will have lunch en route as we enjoy the activities provided on the motor coach. In the afternoon we will make a stop at the Flight 93 Chapel and and Memorial Site. This evening we will be staying at the Holiday Inn in Somerset, Pennsylvania with an included evening dinner.
Wednesday, March 28 Lancaster, PA
After a full buffet breakfast, we will sit back and enjoy the beautiful landscape of Pennsylvania. Our tour destination is Gettysburg, the sleepy little town that became the site of the turning point in the Civil War. The battlefields lay silent now, but memorials and visitors like us commemorate those who fought here. In addition, we will be visiting the site of the famous Gettysburg Address. To relive the sights and sounds of these great battles, a step-on guide will be provided. After spending a half-day in the Gettysburg area, we will board the motor coach for our short trip to the Country Inn & Suites in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for the next two nights. Thursday, March 29 Lancaster PA
A local guide joins us today, after breakfast, as we tour a serene area where time has stood still for a hundred years. We’ll see an Amish farm, where the horse and plow out-produce the tractor and bearded Amish men work from dawn ‘til dusk tilling and working the soil by hand. We’ll pause for a unique country lunch served family style at the Plain & Fancy Farm; visit an Amish house furnished to reflect the Amish lifestyle and way of life. Late this afternoon you will be treated to a shopping stop in Intercourse before returning to our motel in Lancaster. Friday, March 30 Springfield, VA
This morning we will skirt the city of Baltimore on our way into Washington D. C. Our first stop will be the Arlington National Cemetery, the Kennedy grave sites, and the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This afternoon we will make the first of two stops at the Smithsonian Institute before continuing to our three night stay at the Best Western, Springfield, Virginia located right outside the metro area of Washington D. C.
Saturday, March 31 Springfield, VA
After breakfast we will have a step-on guide who will show us the popular sights of Washington D. C. - Capitol Hill, FBI Building, the famous memorials as the Vietnam, Veterans, Iwo Jima Monument, Ford Theater, Peterson House, Washington Cathedral, Kennedy Center and the White House. Our full day of sightseeing will be complete with a tour of the Holocaust Memorial Museum. A special treat one evening will be a tour of the illuminated monuments and memorials in Washington D.C.
Sunday, April 1 Springfield, VA
This morning arrangements have been made by our local Senator or Representative for a tour of the Capitol. We will then enjoy a trip through the Washington area to Mount Vernon, the historic home of George and Martha Washington. Everyone enjoys and appreciates America’s most famous presidential home. This afternoon we are going to tour the National Museum of the Marine Corps and Heritage Center. This spectacular museum opened in 2006. You will be able to follow the footprints that young recruits must fill at boot camp to the boot prints left in the sand of Pacific Island beaches during World War II, in the snow of the Chosin Resevoir during the Korean War and on Hill 881 in South Vietnam. Monday, April 2 Cumberland, MD
Today you will have the opportunity to re-visit the Smithsonian Museum to take in the galleries you have not yet visited. Late afternoon we will be saying farewell to Washington D. C. and the beauty of the Cherry Blossoms. As we leave Washington D.C. we will travel to northern Maryland through the beautiful Cumberland Mountain Range. Our evening stay will be in Cumberland, Maryland.
Tuesday, April 3 Richmond, IN
After breakfast, we will enjoy the scenery of Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and into Ohio for our luncheon stop in Columbus. After lunch we will travel to Dayton and stop for a visit at the United States Air Force Museum; one of the oldest and largest aviation museums in the world. This museum features more than 300 aircraft and missiles in six main galleries. Displays include early space suits and advanced missiles and bombs used duing the Persian Gulf War. Our evening stay will be in Richmond, Indiana. Wednesday, April 4 New Glarus, WI
We are in for a treat today, as we are headed to the Fair Oaks Dairy Farm in Indiana. Here we will be given a tour of the 37,000 dairy herd operation. At the conclusion of the tour you will have the opportunity to browse the cheese and gift store and will enjoy an included luncheon at the dairy farm before depart to the enchanted Chalet Landhaus Inn, for our overnight stay in New Glarus, Wisconsin. Tonight you will be treated to a Swiss Dinner Show at the Chalet. Thursday, April 5 Home
The last leg of our journey begins this morning after breakfast. We will have time to reflect with our new friends about the battlefields of Gettysburg, the Pennsylvania Dutch, and all of the sites of our Nation’s Capitol; with the beauty and fragrance of the Cherry Blossoms lingering in our minds.
